WHO WE ARE
Susan Spicka
Executive Director
Susan has been an active volunteer in her children’s public schools in Shippensburg since her oldest daughter entered kindergarten in 2007. She became involved in public education advocacy in 2011 when she joined members from her community for mock bake sale in Harrisburg to protest Governor Corbett’s proposed cuts to education funding. Parents said they would need to sell 2.4 billion cookies in order to make up for the proposed $1.2 billion in state funding cuts.
Prior to moving to Shippensburg in 2002, Susan taught English in a high school with a high number of economically disadvantaged students in Columbus, Ohio. During this time, she witnessed first-hand both the incredible power of public education to change the lives of students and the challenges facing our public schools. Her teaching experience solidified her belief that all children, no matter where they live, deserve to have an equal opportunity to receive a great public education.
Susan completed the Education Policy and Leadership Fellowship Program in 2016 and was the 2020 recipient of the American Association of University Women’s Gateway to Equity Award, which honors an individual, group or organization that has shown by action and philosophy the promotion of the AAUW mission to advance gender equity for women and girls through research, education, and advocacy. She holds a B.A. in Classics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a M. A. in Ancient Greek and a M.Ed. in English education from The Ohio State University.
Sandra Miller
Advocacy Coordinator
Sandra Miller is the advocacy coordinator for Education Voters of PA who will be focusing on developing parent advocates for equitable and adequate education funding in Northeast Pennsylvania. Sandra is the former Northeast Coordinator of Advocacy for PA Schools Work and a Circuit Rider for the Campaign for Fair Education Funding,
Starting when her children were in kindergarten, Sandra’s efforts stem from her beliefs that parents and community members need to promote sustainable resources for the success of our community schools. As a founding member for a parent advocacy group in New Jersey to her work as volunteer for Good Schools PA, she has committed herself to various volunteer positions. Since 2006, she has been a School Director of the Saucon Valley School Board and is active in the Pennsylvania School Board Association advocacy efforts.
Sandra has her BS from Penn State focusing on policy analysis and completed her Masters in Public Administration from Penn State in 1984. She worked for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for several years in policy and program development positions in the Governor’s office and the Department of Welfare. Upon her return to Pennsylvania in 1999, she initiated her education advocacy efforts in the Lehigh Valley. She resides in Bethlehem with her husband and two sons.
Katja Krieger
Director of Community Engagement
Katja Krieger is currently a PHENND VISTA Fellow at the School District of Philadelphia Office of Strategic Partnerships. Katja grew up in State College, Pennsylvania, and is happy to be exploring another part of PA; Philadelphia. She received a B.A. from Ithaca College in Culture and Communications with a concentration in Education, Research and Policy. Both her communications and education coursework have served as lenses emphasizing the significance of cultural identities and multimodal communications in education and policy. She hopes to apply her skills derived from her coursework as well as experiences creating mentorship and after-school programs to her work in Philadelphia. Ultimately, she strives to be an active listener, advocate, and voracious reader. Some day she hopes to get a graduate degree in education policy, teaching or law.
